Holi celebrations claim 5 lives

At least five persons were killed and more than 300 accident injuries, including some fatal ones, cases were reported admitted in the city hospitals on the day of Holi day on Wednesday.

TNN | Updated: Mar 29, 2013, 04:11 IST

LUCKNOW: At least five persons were killed and more than 300 accident injuries, including some fatal ones, cases were reported admitted in the city hospitals on the day of Holi day on Wednesday. While two youths - aged 15 and 20 years - were killed in separate road accidents, three persons lost their lives in different incidents of drowning.
Tewari family of Rajajipuram will always remember the festival of colours this year as a dark day because the revelry took a toll on their 13-year-old son Shivam at around 1.00 pm on Wednesday. Like most families, after finishing the Holika dahan puja, Shivam's uncle Kuldeep started for his in-law's place in Aliganj. The teenager said he wanted to accompany his uncle for the celebrations. On their way back home, his uncle's bike collided with another bike-borne duo in the Hazratganj area.

The impact was so high the boy was tossed in the air and he fell on the other side of the road. Blood oozed out of his head and the boy was dead in an instant. His uncle Kuldeep's right leg was entangled in the bike and he was dragged along with it. Locals informed the ambulance service and the two were rushed to Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Civil Hospital. The doctors examined the patients and declared Shivam brought dead and Kuldeep had suffered four fractures in the leg. His gastro-intestinal track was also damaged and he will have to undergo surgery to survive.

In another mishap, Amit (20) of Ghazi Haider Canal in E-Block of Rajajipuram colony was fatally wounded when his motorcycle (UP 32 EQ 5204) was hit by a speeding Safari (UP 32 EH 2558) in Talkatora while he was on his way home after celebrating Holi with his relatives and friends. An FIR was lodged with the Talkatora police in connection with the incident and Amit's body was sent for post-mortem examination.

In Hasanganj Amit Singh (17) drowned when he went to take a bath at Gomti under Hasanganj police circle on Wednesday with his friends. According to his friends, Amit was initially bathing in the shallow waters when he decided to hit the deep and in the process, drowned. Subsequently they raised an alarm and local boatmen tried to look for the boy but in vain. Similarly, Shiva (36) a resident of Juggaur in Chinhat police circle drowned while taking a bath at Indira Canal. Ganga Sagar (35) - a native of Harraiya in Basti district who worked with Rampreet Sharma in Manas Nagar under Krishna Nagar police station was found lying dead inside a drain in Sarojni Nagar area. The body was spotted by a local resident, who informed the police. Police suspect that Ganga Sagar had apparently slipped into the drain in an inebriated state and since the drain was deep, he drowned and died.

Around 300 persons were seriously injured in accidents during Holi celebrations and have been admitted to government hospitals alone. Records from the Civil Hospital indicate that 469 persons were brought to the medical emergency over the last 24 hours. Of the total, 55 were admitted. The others were discharged after treatment. The doctors on duty stated as many as 10 patients, including Kuldeep, were serious in nature and under observation.

In Balrampur Hospital, 256 patients were brought to the emergency medical care unit of whom 56 were admitted. The doctors said most of the patients were victims of road accident. They were worried about the fate of 15 patients, who suffered head injury and did not gain consciousness even after 36 hours of the incident. A similar scene was noticed in Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital.

Doctors said most of the patients fell prey to drunken driving and road accidents. A large number suffered head injuries. In the Trauma Centre of King George's Medical University, 188 patients were admitted in the casualty unit of whom 164 persons suffered head injuries, including 34 of critical nature. Data from the 108 ambulance service call centre data and patients admitted to other government hospitals showed similar trend. The call centre received 119 calls, including 50 in cases of road accidents and 14 of head injuries.

TOTAL EMERGENCY CALLS ATTENDED BY 108 CALL CENTRE

967 -- road accidents

329 -- brawl

147 -- breathing problems

34 -- hypertension / blood pressure

2042 -- pregnancy

1745 -- others

5262 -- total

TOP FIVE DISTRICTS IN TERMS OF EMERGENCY BURDEN

Hardoi -- 153

Badaun & Lakhimpur Kheri -- 133

Sitapur -- 128

Aligarh -- 125

Rae Bareli - 121

Scene in lucknow

Hospital - cases attended - patients admitted

Balrampur - 256 - 56

Civil - 469 - 55

Lohia - 300 - 50

KGMU - 225 - 34

KEY POINTS:

1: The 108 call centre data, the number of cases reported on Holi was about 30% higher than the average of 4,000 cases per day for the state.

2: Compared to the Holi in 2011, the number of accidents has gone up by 25%.

3: In 2011, some 800 accidents were reported of whom 180 persons were hospitalised. However in 2013, a total of 1241 big and small accidents were reported of which 200 persons were critically injured and hospitalised.

4: Experts attribute the increase in number of cases to availability of ambulance service. They stated that in the previous years, a large number of people took the victims to near by private hospitals which were not documented.

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